Lake Nozori

Little knownBarely documented in English. This is the kind of place the site exists for.

Researched and written by Hinato

Lake Nozorialpine flowersnozori-kisugehighland lakeNakanojo

Photo: 高橋文武 / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0) · original

Gunma's geography does a lot of the work at Lake Nozori — the rest is knowing when to show up.

Lake Nozori sits at around 1,500 metres at the literal end of Route 405 — the road stops at the lake and does not continue. It is a reservoir, dammed in the 1950s, but it reads as a highland lake: open water in a bowl of grassy slopes with no development on the shore, which is why it has picked up the nickname the lake in the sky.

The draw is the flora. More than 300 species of alpine plant grow on the shore and the surrounding hills through the season — shirane-aoi and renge-tsutsuji in spring, komakusa and yanagiran later — but the peak is the first half of July, when the slopes fill with nozori-kisuge, the yellow trumpet-shaped day lily the lake is named for. There is a walking circuit around the water and trails up onto the ridge, notably Mt. Hachiken. The road is closed by snow from late November to late April, so this is a five-month lake.

Visiting essentials

Best season

Early–mid July for nozori-kisuge day lilies | Late September–October for autumn colour on the ridges

How long to allow

1–2 hours at the lake | 4–5 hours including the Mt. Hachiken ridge walk

Hours

Open access during the season | No lighting after dark

Closed: Road closed by snow from late November to late April

Entry fee

Free | Free parking

Finding your way there

Directions

Iriyama, Nakanojo, at the end of Route 405. Car effectively required — around an hour from Kusatsu Onsen. Free parking at the Nozori Pass rest house, which has toilets and a small canteen, plus a lower car park. Free to visit. Accessible roughly late April to late November; the road closes for snow outside that window.

What to bring

**Early July is the reason to come.** Nozori-kisuge peaks in the first half of July and turns the slopes yellow. Outside that window the lake is still beautiful and considerably emptier, but the flower display is what people drive up for. **Arrive early for the water.** The lake surface is calm in the early morning and reflects the ridges; wind picks up through the day and the reflection goes. That also happens to be when the light on the flowers is best. **Walk up, not just around.** The shoreline circuit is pleasant and flat, but the view that makes the place is from the ridge — Mt. Hachiken above the lake is the standard objective and turns the visit into a half-day walk rather than a stop. **Bring layers even in August.** At 1,500 metres it runs well below the valley temperature and the bowl is exposed with no shelter on the shore. Wind here is a real factor. **Chain it with Shiriyaki and Chatsubomigoke.** All three are in the same far-western corner of Nakanojo and all three are car-only. Done together out of Kusatsu they make a full day; done individually each is a long drive for a short stop.

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